Blakes 7 - 1601 - The Harvest of Kairos [ home ] [ prev ] [ next ]
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Author: Ben Steed
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Director: Gerald Blake [ IMDB ] |
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Excerpt from Blakes 7: The Program Guide by Tony Attwood Servalan launches a planned attack on the Liberator, using a special flight formation which Tarrant recognizes. Tarrant begins to evade the attack whilst, in her headquarters, news comes to Servalan of a construction worker who is speaking openly of her inability to take the Liberator. This underling turns out to be Jarvik, a former Space Commander who had resigned his commission because of his disaffection with the Federation's dependence on high technology. He boasts that he could take the Liberator with three ships, and Servalan agrees to let him try. Meanwhile, Avon has become totally distracted by an odd, immobile, rock-like life form called Sopron. He thus takes no part in either the evasion of Servalan's forces under the guidance of Jarvik or the plan by Tarrant to steal Kairopan - a valuable crystal available on Kairos for just one week every fifteen years. All appears to go smoothly with the theft until the crates of crystal harvested by the Federation are moved into the Liberator, when guards reveal themselves and capture the ship and its crew. In an attempt to salvage the situation, Avon manipulates Zen so that Servalan, who takes over Liberator, is forced to put the crew down on a habitable planet instead of killing them immediately. However Servalan fulfills the bargain by teleporting Avon and his colleagues to Kairos. Since the one week in which the Kairopan can be harvested safely has passed, the plane is now in a phase deadly to human life although there is no information about the nature of the threat. Servalan gives Jarvik a further challenge, to remove the teleport bracelets from Avon, Tarrant and the other now on Kairos. As he does this, Jarvik tells Avon that the reason no human life can exist on Kairos after the wee of harvest is that large insect-like creatures seek out the Kairopan and use it to spin silk. Anyone who has even touched the substance will be attacked, and since the Kairopan is so exceptionally valuable no humans on the planet can ever resist it. Meanwhile Avon has discovered an ancient space ship which appears to be workable although only designed for very short journeys into space. Despite his misgivings Tarrant manages to fly the ship, and Avon then plugs in an analogue version of the Sopron rock which convinces Zen on the Liberator that it is viewing a space ship of slightly greater size, slightly greater speed and slightly greater weaponry capacity than Liberator. Despite Jarvik's protestations, Servalan is tricked by this ruse and teleports off the Liberator. Tarrant then lands the small spacecraft alongside the Liberator and the crew regain control. In the final moments, Jarvik is mistakenly killed by one of Servalan's guards. Review 07/06/2005 by ledlogic Jarvik comes across as a great strategist. (c) 1979 by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Series created by Terry Nation. This is a partial dialogue transcript for research purposes and is not for sale under any circumstances. Format (c) 1992 by Micky DuPree. Transcribed by Micky Dupree & Boris Ammerlaan. Proofread by Jason Gool & Claudia Mastroianni. Dramatis Personae
Uncredited:
[Liberator flight deck] DAYNA: Could you get it on visual? TARRANT: Not a chance. Anyway, it's not an "it", but a "them": there's two of them. DAYNA: The readings are the same? TARRANT: Same type of ship. It's our orbit pattern that threw me. Our scanners only see one at a time, and we can't get either on visual because we're in the permanent dark side. Confirm that, Zen. ZEN: The pattern is mathematically possible but cannot be confirmed without an -- ZEN & TARRANT: [Together] -- independent point of scan. TARRANT: Okay, Zen, we've read the same manuals. [To Dayna] It's an old Federation manoeuvre. Unimaginative, but so's a punch in the mouth. We don't need either. At least it tells us who sent them. DAYNA: Servalan. CALLY: [Into mic] Avon, Vila, respond please. [Static] Nothing. TARRANT: Keep trying, we're running out of time. CALLY: [Into mic] Avon, Vila, respond please. I'm sure they can hear us. [Into mic] Avon, there are two hostile spacecraft in close scan range. Request teleport now, please. TARRANT: And number three is out there somewhere. Dayna, you'd better run a check on energy banks and force wall. Prepare for combat! DAYNA: We stay and fight? TARRANT: With those two down there, what else can we do? CALLY: [Into mic] Avon, this is priority... [Space Command] SERVALAN: What is Tarrant doing? He can run, or he can attack, but he does neither. DASTOR: Madam president, if I might make a suggestion... SERVALAN: [Into mic] Assault Leader One, status check. LEADER 1: [V.O.] Maintaining contraxial orbit with Leader Two. Report Liberator detector scans operative. SERVALAN: He knows they're there. DASTOR: If I might suggest... SERVALAN: [Into mic] Assault Leader Three, status check. LEADER 3: [V.O.] Holding eclipse pattern with Leader One. We're sustaining high energy loss. DASTOR: It's a dangerous manoeuvre... LEADER 3: [V.O.] Request we attack immediately... SERVALAN: No, wait. DASTOR: Madam president! SERVALAN: He's eclipsed, so Tarrant can't know he's there. But he suspects; he's no fool. DASTOR: Madam president, I must counsel that you attack now. SERVALAN: No! No, this time, we get it right. DASTOR: But if only for the sake of your position, your esteem. SERVALAN: My _what_? DASTOR: They're talking below decks, madam. I wouldn't repeat it, but... SERVALAN: You will repeat it. DASTOR: Oh, it's all foolishness, of course, but... SERVALAN: Go on. DASTOR: They...they say you're afraid of Tarrant. Well, afraid to attack, that is. But of course nobody who knows you would ever... SERVALAN: Who says so? DASTOR: Chiefly it's -- one man; a worker from the construction grades. SERVALAN: [Amused] An artisan? DASTOR: He says -- he says any fool with three pursuit ships could take the Liberator. SERVALAN: Oh, he does? And what is the name of this construction worker whose tactical knowledge far surpasses that of my battle-tested veteran starship captains? DASTOR: They call him Jarvik. SERVALAN: Jarvik. INTERC.: [V.O.] Interceptor Leader to Control. Request instructions! SERVALAN: Hold position, Interceptor Leader, and wait for instructions from Assault Leader One. We will attack when the Liberator breaks out of Alpha Sector. Four should do it nicely. Well, Dastor, I think it's time we had a little strategic counsel. Bring this -- Jarvik to me. [Liberator flight deck] TARRANT: Zen, I know the third one's out there somewhere. Can't you find it? ZEN: Sensors report negative scan. TARRANT: Then the sensors are wrong. Run a maintenance check. No! No, hold that. Give us a parallax scan on the alien craft. ZEN: Parallax scan shows another alien craft eclipsed at half a million spacials. CALLY: [In the background, into comm] Avon, Vila, respond, please. DAYNA: You were right. TARRANT: Don't sound so surprised. CALLY: We're getting something from the planet. AVON: [V.O.] This is Avon. We're ready for teleport. [Dayna walks towards teleport facility] TARRANT: Zen, how do we get out of here? ZEN: Spiral orbit zero-zero-one-four, exit: alpha three. [Teleport facility] VILA: Earth temperatures, you said. AVON: Stop moaning, Vila. VILA: But it's freezing down there! If I'd have known, I'd have taken a set of thermals. DAYNA: Thirty minutes, you were told. If you'd come back when you were told to... VILA: Next time, someone else can carry his rotten gear, 'cos I've had it! [Flight deck; Vila, Avon and Dayna enter, arguing] VILA: ...and it doesn't help when you're stumbling about in the dark falling over things. DAYNA: Oh, Vila! AVON: Quiet! DAYNA: I volunteered! ZEN: [At the same time] Parabolic orbit one-eight-one-six, exit: alpha four. Battle computers confirm. No viable alternatives. CALLY: Did you get what you went down there for? AVON: Yes. CALLY: Where is it? [Avon exhibits the rock.] A rock? AVON: Something like that. TARRANT: Zen, -- AVON: Just a minute, Tarrant. Zen -- TARRANT: Sorry, Avon, we haven't got time. AVON: No, but we do have a superior spacecraft. [Puts rock on analiser] Zen, identify that. If you can. ZEN: The substance is Sopron. AVON: Sopron? Is that all? ZEN: No further information is available. AVON: Analyze it. TARRANT: Avon, please -- AVON: Just a minute. ZEN: Sopron is nonorganic, silicon-based, and registers high electronic activity. AVON: Its function? ZEN: Its function is that of a capacity-charged brain. AVON: Thank you, Zen. [To Tarrant] You can carry on now. TARRANT: Zen, is the Alpha Sector the only safe way out of here? ZEN: Affirmative. TARRANT: As I thought. Stand by to break orbit. [Space Command] INTERC.: [V.O.] Forward sensors report high energy displacement. I think she's moving. [Dastor lets guards with Jarvik enter] Yes, Liberator's breaking orbit. Repeat: Liberator is breaking orbit! LEADER 1: [V.O.] Assault Leader One to Leader Three. Your eclipse pattern is broken. Leader Three, you are disclosed. SERVALAN: Hold position, Interceptor Leader. Assault Three, are you sleeping? Acknowledge disclosure. LEADER 3: [V.O.] Leader Three. Disclosure confirmed. SERVALAN: Then get in there, fast! LEADER 1: Assault Leader One. Leader Two now disclosed and in support. Alpha Sector is sealed. Repeat: Alpha Sector is sealed. SERVALAN: Then the Liberator is yours, Leader One. Audio silence operates. Command Headquarters out. [sees man] Who is this man? DASTOR: Jarvik, Madam President. You requested...? SERVALAN: Jarvik? Of course. Jarvik. Jarvik, the construction worker. What was it now? Any fool could take the Liberator with three pursuit ships. Well, the Liberator will soon be diffusing itself throughout the galaxy as so many billion split particles. So, regrettably, we shall never know. Thanks to the folly of your president, who with her aides and her technical advisers, her battle computers and her captains, extravagantly disposed herself to use _four_ pursuit ships. And yet any fool could have done it with three. Perhaps this particular fool will tell her how. [pause] Well? Have you nothing to say to Servalan? JARVIK: Woman, you're beautiful. [grabs and kisses her] SERVALAN: Guards! Take this primitive to the punishment cells! Move! JARVIK: [guards move in, Jarvik laughs disarming them] Guards! [Points gun at Servalan and guards] SERVALAN: Take him! Will you obey me!? JARVIK: I didn't come here to brawl with the Security Grades. LEADER 1: [V.O.] Leader Two, you are deviating. Re-establish alignment. LEADER 2: [V.O.] Negative, Leader One. Correct bearing on Liberator is being maintained. SERVALAN: Assault Leaders, you _are_ on open voice. LEADER 1: [V.O.] Madam president, this is Assault Leader One, reporting the Liberator's approach course is for Delta Sector. Repeat: Delta Sector. SERVALAN: Don't be a fool. Liberator must exit through Alpha. No other course is logical. The computer projections were unanimous. JARVIK: [Scornfully] Computer! SERVALAN: Re-check coordinates. Confirm Liberator is in Alpha. LEADER 1: [V.O.] Checks negative. Liberator is in Delta. SERVALAN: But he's an open target in Delta Sector. LEADER 1: [V.O.] _We're_ in Alpha Sector, Madam President. SERVALAN: Abort attack. Repeat: abort attack. JARVIK: You see, madam, Tarrant has computers too. SERVALAN: Of course he does. And they would have told him the same thing. The only defensible exit was through Alpha. JARVIK: So he knew exactly where the trap would be. You don't know Tarrant, madam. He's a man. He thinks and acts like a man, not like a machine. That's why he's still alive. SERVALAN: And you, being a similar man, no doubt, in thought and action, will know exactly where he's heading now? JARVIK: Oh, yes. Right now he's heading for the Harvest of Kairos. [Liberator flight deck] CALLY: Kairos? TARRANT: A bit of piracy, we agreed. VILA: Yeah, piracy, not lunacy. DAYNA: You said it was a harvest? TARRANT: And so it is. Zen, put up Kairos. ZEN: Kairos. The fourth planet of the star Xymines in the constellation Lypterion. VILA: Right in the heart of Federation space. TARRANT: There ISN'T a Federation anymore. VILA: Tell that to Servalan. They don't take kindly to scrumping on Kairos. ZEN: The planet has an orbital revolution of fifteen Earth years. The fertile zone is small, and noted for the suborganic growth of Kairopan, a highly prized crystal, which is gathered during the first week following the vernal equinox. This is known as the Harvest of Kairos. VILA: Just one pocket full. I suppose I could retire to the lakeside of Gardinos and be waited on by those cute, little... TARRANT: Yes. Well, what you do with your booty is up to you. We've got to get it yet. CALLY: Zen, why does the harvest last only one week? ZEN: No information available. CALLY: Speculate. ZEN: With the exception of the seven days following the vernal equinox, the environment is hostile to human life. Possible causes number eight hundred and two. One: infractional radiation levels-- TARRANT: Yes, thank you, Zen. We'll manage without the list. CALLY: What do you think it is? TARRANT: Your guess is as good as mine. Fact is, nobody who ever stayed after the first week came back to talk about it. DAYNA: Sounds like fun. VILA: I'd rather not take any chances. TARRANT: We're not going to take any chances. VILA: But you just-- TARRANT: We're going to wait till the kairopan's been harvested, and then we'll hijack the space transporter. VILA: Ah, now, ah... CALLY: Well, that sounds reasonable. TARRANT: I think so. What do you say, Avon? AVON: Now come along, Orac. First of all you say that this is not alive, and then you say it is more rational than you are. TARRANT: Avon -- AVON: Wait! ORAC: I deny that sopron is more rational. Reason is absolute and rationality cannot be divided by comparatives. AVON: Orac, you are splitting hairs. Tarrant, listen to this. TARRANT: Avon, we're trying-- AVON: Just a moment. I am about to extract a momentous admission. Orac, this rock, this sopron, does it have a greater capacity for reasoning than you do? ORAC: The difference is barely measurable. AVON: But it is greater. ORAC: By a marginal degree, yes. AVON: There. [Smiles] Now isn't that something? TARRANT: Yes, I'm sure it is. Avon, we're trying to get a consensus. If you could just give us your attention for two minutes. AVON: If it's tactical counsel you want, Tarrant, I suggest you consult Zen. That is what computers are for. Now then, Orac, how can... DAYNA: Do we attack the space transporter? TARRANT: Yes. [Space Command] SERVALAN: [V.O.; looking at monitor showing fields] Tarrant won't attack the fields for the simple reason he can't. JARVIK: [V.O.; looking at monitor showing fields] Tarrant delights in doing things people think he can't. But no, he won't attack the fields. SERVALAN: You speak with familiarity, as one who knows him. JARVIK: Knew him. A few years ago. He served as lieutenant on the Kairopan escort shuttle. It was his first command. SERVALAN: How could you know that? JARVIK: I briefed him. SERVALAN: You? JARVIK: I was his captain. SERVALAN: And what crime did you commit? JARVIK: No crime. SERVALAN: Don't lie to me, Jarvik. One word and your life is on that screen. [He gestures for her to go ahead. She enters data.] "Jarvik. Formerly of Federation Space Academy, now in HQ construction grades." [Reads.] Why? JARVIK: Because I'm a human being. SERVALAN: But is that a reason to -- JARVIK: And so are you. But when was the last time you felt the warmth of the Earth's sun on your naked back? Or lifted your face to the heavens, and laughed with the joy of being alive? How long since you wept at the death of a friend? [Pause.] Doesn't mean a thing to you, does it, Madam President? You've surrounded yourself with machines and weapons, mindless men and heartless mutoids; and when they've done your work, and the machines have done your thinking, what is there left in you that feels?! [Smashes computer screen.] SERVALAN: [Dastor enters.] What is it? DASTOR: The Liberator, madam. Tele-sentry stations report an approach course for Lypterion. Tarrant is coming here. SERVALAN: I know that. When will he arrive? DASTOR: Twenty-two hours if present speed and course remain constant. SERVALAN: Keep me informed. And get maintenance to replace _that_. [Indicates screen.] DASTOR: Right away, madam. [Leaves.] SERVALAN: The last shuttle is scheduled to leave Kairos at oh eight one five tomorrow, and link up with the transporter five minutes later. The Liberator could be anywhere in the Xymines system by then. JARVIK: Are you asking me or telling me? SERVALAN: I'm not looking for impertinence. You say any fool could take the Liberator with three pursuit ships. Could you? JARVIK: I could take her with one. But as a man, Tarrant is worthy of honour. Three would not insult him. SERVALAN: Then three you shall have, Mark Tens, the newest, fastest, and most powerful in my fleet. Your rank shall be Acting Major. And now I suggest you go and make ready. But first, there is the question of that degrading and primitive act to which I was subjected in the control room. I should like you to do it again. [Liberator flight deck] DAYNA: Negative scan. TARRANT: Weapon systems? DAYNA: Mobilized. TARRANT: Energy banks? CALLY: Fully charged. TARRANT: Time? CALLY: Oh seven four five. TARRANT: Right. Zen, direct vision of Kairos. Locater fix on the transporter. ZEN: Two two one four. Stationary orbit. Thirty-six degrees. Five - four - steady. [The rock blows up.] AVON: Sorry. TARRANT: And the interceptors, Zen? ZEN: Eight million spacials, stellar orbit, holding. TARRANT: Activity on Kairos? ZEN: Affirmative. TARRANT: So they're still down there. [Kairopan shuttle] SHAD: Get hold of Command. DASTOR: [On screen] Command. Yes? SHAD: It's the harvest, sir. It's been good. Very good. DASTOR: [On screen] And? SHAD: Well, we're loaded and ready for lift-off, but, er... DASTOR: [On screen] Well, hurry up man, what is it you have to say? SHAD: Well, the cargo exceeds our flight tolerance. DASTOR: [On screen] Well, what does that mean? SERVALAN: [On screen] Thank you, Dastor. I'll deal with this. How much excess Kairopan is there, Shad? SHAD: Weight eighty-four units, madam. SERVALAN: [On screen] And are all the labourers aboard? SHAD: No, madam. Do I have your permission to abandon the excess cargo, [Space Command; on screen] or shall I have it destroyed? SERVALAN: Neither. You will abandon the surplus labourers. SHAD: [On screen] Yes, madam. [Launch platform] GUARD: Instructions from the Captain. You are to wait for the next shuttle. CARLON: But there isn't another. GUARD: One will be sent for you tomorrow. CARLON: But today's the last day. He knows that and you know that. GUARD: Orders are orders. You know that. [Shoots worker climbing over fence] CARLON: But nobody lives after the last day! GUARD: Then you'll die, won't you? [Kairopan shuttle] SHAD: Ignition. Contact. [Launch platform; shuttle leaves without guard] GUARD: No, wait! Wait! [Liberator flight deck] ZEN: Sensors report shuttlecraft launch from planet surface. TARRANT: And the transporter's position? ZEN: Unchanged. TARRANT: So, we have five minutes before they link, four while they transfer cargo, less than twelve before they break orbit. VILA: Bit of a know-all, aren't you? [Tarrant winks and smiles.] ZEN: Interceptor activity. Forward sensors indicate standard defence formation flanking the transporter. TARRANT: Identification. ZEN: No information. Hull structure similar to ex-Federation Hunter-Killer class pursuit ship. Modified fin suggests primitive Time Distort facility. TARRANT: The new Mark Tens. VILA: You know about them? TARRANT: Oh, yes. Dayna, we'll be counterattacking through the force wall. Bring it into maximum deflection. DAYNA: On interlock? TARRANT: No, overlap. Ask Cally, she'll put you right. VILA: Anything I should do? TARRANT: Yes. Right now, I suggest you hold on to something very tight. Zen, bearing three, standard by eight. [Space Command] JARVIK: Tarrant's made his move. Sooner than I'd have liked, but never mind. Who commands the transporter? DASTOR: Well, nobody, sir. It's unmanned and computer controlled. JARVIK: I see. They still don't trust anyone to bring it back. What about the shuttle? DASTOR: Sir? JARVIK: Who controls it? DASTOR: Captain Shad, sir. JARVIK: Brotius Shad? DASTOR: Aye, sir. JARVIK: Well, that's something. [Pushes button.] Captain Shad, I'm Acting Major Jarvik, under authority to Servalan and in command of the escort fleet. SHAD: Hello, sir? JARVIK: Have you guards with you on the shuttle? SHAD: Yes, sir. JARVIK: Good. There's something I'd like you to do for me. [Later] JARVIK: I shall expect both courage and enterprise. SHAD: You will have both, sir. SERVALAN: Such old-fashioned concepts, Jarvik. Are they really necessary? JARVIK: With machines, no. With men, yes. SERVALAN: So you won't want to hear the computer predictions. JARVIK: Madam, in ancient times they read the future from the torn out guts of small animals. Two millennia later it was in the remnant leaves of a herb in a drinking cup. Ask me, and I'd say that civilization has learnt a lot to little positive advantage. SERVALAN: Yes. Well, you'll hear them anyway. Our computer predicts convincing victory with the loss of one pursuit ship. I'd rather not lose any. JARVIK: In that case: sit down and shut up. [Looks at monitor] He's left his keel exposed. Killer Three, you're in strike range. Fire now! Now! [Liberator is hit; flight deck] ZEN: Hull sensors report damage to keel section. TARRANT: The keel section? That's impossible! The force wall... Dayna, -- DAYNA: Yes, I know. TARRANT: Zen, retreat. Standard by Six, bearing Xymines. [To Dayna] I said: overlap. DAYNA: I know, but I couldn't find -- TARRANT: Didn't Cally show you? DAYNA: She wasn't there! TARRANT: But she was... [sees Cally's empty station] Oh no, I don't believe it. Vila, take over. VILA: Who, me? TARRANT: [To Dayna] Stay with him. [Somewhere else on the Liberator] CALLY: Avon, I can't. AVON: Concentrate. CALLY: It's my mother, my father. I don't know. AVON: Cally, your mother and father are dead. It is an illusion. Tell yourself that this is a rock. CALLY: But it's not. It's alive. AVON: Orac, is the rock sopron alive? ORAC: No. CALLY: But it's sitting there, thinking. [Boom!] ORAC: The electrical impulses are powered by a sophisticated technology and the programing does bear a similarity to the mental processes. But this is not "thinking" in the accepted sense. CALLY: It is. It is, Avon. I don't like it. [Gets up] AVON: Cally. [Grasps her by the arms] TARRANT: [Enters] Is this the time or the place? That thing has warped your reason, Avon. It's even warped your notorious instinct for looking after number one. We are in danger, can't you understand that? AVON: I understand that this ship is the most powerful in the galaxy and that you are the most astute space warfare commander. [Tarrant and Cally exit.] Or so you tell us often enough. [Flight deck; Liberator destroys one pursuit ship] VILA: We got it, we got it! DAYNA: Right on the nose! [laughs] [Space Command] SERVALAN: How did _that_ happen? JARVIK: They fired through their own force shield. SERVALAN: Don't be absurd. JARVIK: You asked, I told you. [Liberator flight deck] VILA: We got it, we got it! TARRANT: Yes, I know, only I was saving that trick for when they both attacked at once. VILA: There's only two left now; no trouble. ZEN: Sensors report hostile craft bearing zero two zero. TARRANT: These Mark Tens can move. Visual tracking, Zen. Cally, forcewall back, maximum deflection. Right. Zen, -- [Space Command] JARVIK: He's rolling her. Hold back, Killer Three, hold back, he'll have you. [Liberator flight deck] TARRANT: Wait. Wait. Wait, on the turn... Easy now... [Space Command] JARVIK: Killer One, it's you! [Liberator flight deck] TARRANT: Fire! [Liberator destroys another pursuit ship] TARRANT: [Kisses his fingers to the air expressively, like an Italian chef] [Space Command] JARVIK: All right, Killer Three, stabilise now. There're two ways of doing this... SERVALAN: Fool! [Into comm] This is Command HQ. All pursuit units in Lypterion, urgent call to Xymines sector. Urgent call to Xymines sector, now. [Breaks contact] They'll never get here in time. JARVIK: Just as well, we've got one too many as it is. SERVALAN: No, I'm the fool. Why do I do it? So stupid. JARVIK: Gently now, Killer Three. Ease your way in. Prepare to launch... [Liberator flight deck] DAYNA: Plasma bolt launched. TARRANT: Visual tracking, Zen. Force wall down, Cally. CALLY: Down? TARRANT: Yes, down. Starboard roll, Zen. Maximum thrust now. Fire, Dayna, fire! [Liberator destroys the last pursuit ship] DAYNA: Direct hit. [Crew cheers] Zen, locate the Kairopan transporter. Direct course. Standard by Three. [Space Command] SERVALAN: There's nothing to stop them now. The cream of my fleet, gone! Destroyed. And all you can do is smile as though you'd achieved something. JARVIK: I have. SERVALAN: What? JARVIK: I made it look convincing. SERVALAN: Oh, it was convincing all right. It convinced _me_. Three Mark Tens and fifteen years' supply of Kairopan. JARVIK: You wanted the Liberator? If you're patient, you shall have her. SERVALAN: And what will you take her with? A Kairopan shuttle? A transporter, perhaps? Or will you use your bare hands?! What are you doing? JARVIK: [Picks up Servalan and dumps her on a couch] Lie there and keep quiet until I tell you otherwise. [Liberator flight deck] VILA: 'Course I may settle down, you know, have kids. What do you think, Cally? CALLY: What do I think of what? VILA: The lakeside of Gardinos. We could go swimming by the light of three moons. DAYNA: Who could? You and Cally? VILA: No, me and the kids. CALLY: [To Vila] But you haven't got any children. VILA: Not yet, I haven't. TARRANT: Vila, you're dreaming. Two weeks of that, and you'd be looking for something to break into. ZEN: Transporter is in visual range. TARRANT: Put her up then, Zen. [Transporter on screen] VILA: Feels like we're stealing a purse from a sleeping man. [Space Command] SERVALAN: They're coming in to dock right under our noses and we're helpless. JARVIK: Be quiet. Watch. [Kairopan transporter] TARRANT: [Teleports in] It's all right, there's nothing. CALLY: [V.O.] Nothing? TARRANT: Apart from a few million credits worth of Kairopan. I'll let you in. [Opens door] VILA: Is that it? TARRANT: What did you expect? VILA: Doesn't exactly look like a fortune, does it? TARRANT: You have to spend it wisely then, won't you? Just buy one planet at a time. VILA: [whispering] Yeah. Well, come on, then. [They start moving the crates.] [Space Command] JARVIK: [Observing; into mic] When you're ready... [Kairopan transporter] VILA: [Passing guard] Excuse me. GUARD2: [To all] Stay EXACTLY where you are, and don't get excited. TARRANT: Hold it. GUARD2: Don't make any sudden movements, and get over to that wall. Come on, all of you! Right. Now turn 'round. AVON: [Just arriving] Down! [They shoot guards] TARRANT: Thanks. AVON: They were an obvious possibility, Tarrant. TARRANT: We'll get this one. Cally, Dayna, go and prepare to disengage. [Space Command] SERVALAN: [Turns of monitor] You know, you really had me believing in you. [Liberator, near hatch] TARRANT: Ready to move, Cally. Whenever you like. CALLY: [V.O.] Disengaging now. [Everybody leaves] SHAD: [emerges from a crate; looks around] It's clear. Come on! [Space Command] SERVALAN: Jarvik, I've given the matter consideration, and decided against summary execution. JARVIK: Very gracious of you. SERVALAN: Yes. There's a certain, primitive element in my nature that finds you -- that wants to. However, you will stand trial. Guards, take this man away. [Guards move towards Jarvik; Shad teleports in] JARVIK: Captain Shad. SHAD: As per your instructions, sir, the Liberator has been taken and now stands off to Command Headquarters. You're invited to inspect, sir. JARVIK: Thank you, Shad. But as another primitive warrior once said, next to a battle lost, there's nothing half so melancholy as a battle won. I never like gloating over a defeated enemy. Perhaps Madam President ... ? SERVALAN: Guards, dismiss. Carry on, Captain Shad. SHAD: [Into bracelet] Liberator, this is Captain Shad. Two to come aboard. Teleport -- now. [Liberator teleport facility] SERVALAN: Not a disagreeable way to travel. Ah, Cally. How lovely to see you again. [They walk to flight deck] Where are the prisoners? SHAD: Under guard, madam. SERVALAN: Bring them here. And _you_ must be Zen. ZEN: Affirmative. SERVALAN: So tell me, Zen, how does one operate this craft? ZEN: One manipulates the controls, and the craft functions accordingly. SERVALAN: Yes, and I've heard of your impudence. Now perhaps you will tell me _how_ to manipulate the controls. ZEN: Manual operation is not possible without full pilot training. Automatic navigation and control computers will respond to certain voice patterns. [Guards enter with crew] TARRANT: But not yours, Servalan. SERVALAN: Not mine yet, Tarrant. But very shortly. Guard, that woman there. [Indicates Dayna] Yes, that one. Take her away somewhere, and kill her. DAYNA: He can try. Or he can kill me here. Nobody takes me anywhere. SERVALAN: Very well. Guard, kill her where she stands. TARRANT: No, wait. We'll talk about this. SERVALAN: There's nothing to talk about, Tarrant. I shall kill your crew one by one until you instruct Zen to recognize my voice pattern. TARRANT: And after that, you'll kill the rest of us. SERVALAN: Perhaps. Perhaps not. I may consider a plea for mercy when the time comes. TARRANT: So there's nothing to gain? SERVALAN: Not a great deal, I must confess. Unless, of course, you want to accept my word. TARRANT: I'd rather accept the business end of a poisonous snake. SERVALAN: As I thought. Oh well, I just shall have to watch you break. Carry on, guard. AVON: All right, Servalan. If he won't, I will. DAYNA: No, Avon. SERVALAN: How wise, Avon. You might have been next. Though with your qualities I'd probably have saved you. AVON: Let's get on with it, shall we? Introduce yourself to Zen. SERVALAN: I am Servalan, President and Supreme Commander of the Terran Federation. AVON: Record her voice pattern, Zen. From now on you will respond to her commands -- on this one condition. SERVALAN: _No_ conditions. AVON: Sorry, too late. That instruction has to be completed by _me_. Unless, of course, you care to dismantle Zen and reorganize the program. I should warn you, I'm the only person in the galaxy who can put it back together again. ZEN: Please complete the instruction. SERVALAN: Wait. I'll make the condition. AVON: You won't cut much ice with Zen. SERVALAN: You seem to be neglecting the fact that I have the power of life and death over your friends. AVON: Then exercise it if you must. But kill me, and you will never control the Liberator. SERVALAN: Your skin always did come first, didn't it? AVON: Would you reproach me for that? ZEN: Please state the condition. AVON: Zen, you will obey Servalan's instructions, provided that her first commands are that you proceed to a planet with suitable Earth-like conditions, and that the present crew is safely teleported to its surface. ZEN: Condition acknowledged. SERVALAN: Thank you, Avon. Zen, you will proceed to a planet with suitable Earth-like conditions. ZEN: Which planet? SERVALAN: Oh, the nearest, I think. ZEN: The nearest planet of that description is Kairos. SERVALAN: Yes, Zen. I know. [Kairos] TARRANT: The harvest week ended twelve hours ago. Whatever goes on down here is about to start. DAYNA: If it hasn't started already. CALLY: I think we should split up into two groups. TARRANT: I agree. You come with me, and -- VILA: I'll go with Avon and Dayna. AVON: Wrong. I'll work out my own salvation. [Space Command] SERVALAN: However, if, while you were working in the port hull, you'd changed to look out one of the deadlights, you would have seen, waiting for you -- [indicates screen with Liberator] She's yours to command, Jarvik. Under my control, of course. Your reward for taking her. JARVIK: Servalan -- Servalan, if I had wanted a command, I would have stayed with the Federation fleet. And as for taking orders... SERVALAN: You really ARE a primitive, aren't you? Come. [Kairopan; field] DAYNA: What's the matter? VILA: There's something in my boot. [Takes out crystal] Look at that! It's Kairopan. I've just done my foot in on half a million credits worth of Kairopan. Couldn't have happened when I was down on my luck and looking for the price of a drink, could it? DAYNA: Only if you were down on your luck in this place. VILA: You mean I'm not? [Forest] TARRANT: There's another one here. [We can recognize Carlon] Identical. CALLY: Do you think you should touch him? TARRANT: I don't think he'll mind. CALLY: That's not what I meant. TARRANT: Whatever did that's got a bit more poke than a viral infection. It's also got a penchant for pockets, d'ya notice that? The same on the last one. CALLY: Perhaps they carried some kind of weapon there. TARRANT: Labourers? No. CALLY: Let's get out of here. AVON: [V.O.] Tarrant. Vila. TARRANT: Listen. AVON: [V.O.] Tarrant. Vila. [Space Command] SERVALAN: It was still a costly exercise, Jarvik. Those Killer- Hunters are irreplaceable. JARVIK: The Liberator's worth a hundred pursuit ships. SERVALAN: Not to mention the pilots. Good pilots. Not easy to train. You lost three. JARVIK: They were mutoids. SERVALAN: Mutoids? JARVIK: I wasn't prepared to see men die on my account. I have this primitive respect for life. SERVALAN: But, surely, if they're trained fighters in a war... JARVIK: They weren't. They were bait in a trap. That wasn't a battle, it was a bluff. It was to give Tarrant confidence. Anything less, he'd have been suspicious. He might even have checked the crates. SERVALAN: Clever. But it doesn't prove a thing. JARVIK: Like what? SERVALAN: Oh, that you're a better man than Tarrant. JARVIK: [Laughs] Why should I want to prove that? SERVALAN: Because I want you to. It's one thing to sit in a control room a million spacials away from the action. But if you're to be man enough for me, to be co-ruler with Servalan, you must meet Tarrant face to face, man to man. JARVIK: A tournament? SERVALAN: Yes, if you like. A primitive tournament, and you will be my champion. JARVIK: If it amuses you. What must I do? SERVALAN: You must go to Kairos and get the teleport bracelets from Tarrant and his crew. JARVIK: You don't think they have enough problems as it is? SERVALAN: Oh, I'm sure they have. You may take a small party with you to make the numbers equal. JARVIK: [Laughs] If it's a champion you want, you'll have a worthy one. I'll put down on Kairos -- alone. [Outside hangar; the others arrive] AVON: What kept you? Tarrant, tell me, what the hell is THAT? TARRANT: [Inside hangar; V.O.] That is a proto-space-age landing module. Should be in a museum. [Jarvik teleports down] [Landing module] TARRANT: It's not a space-craft as such. It wasn't designed to go any further than the parent ship, or the command module, as they called it. Now that might have been of some use. CALLY: What do you think happened to it? TARRANT: The command module? Probably got tired of waiting. VILA: You mean when the crew of this one... TARRANT: ...failed to make contact, right. AVON: But you could get this into orbit? TARRANT: Well, there wouldn't be any point, and anyway -- AVON: Yes or no? TARRANT: Well, presumably. Nothing seems to have been da-- AVON: That's all right, then. [Jarvik sees Carlon and avoids creature] [Landing module; Vila snores; Cally sleeps; Avon works; monitor beeps, then stops; Avon strikes it, and it resumes] [Next day; outside hangar] TARRANT: Where the hell's Avon? VILA: He's back. I saw him go inside. [Tarrant heads toward the hangar] VILA: [To Dayna] I won't be a moment. [Landing module] CALLY: [Entering] Oh, you're back. We were worried about you. AVON: No need. TARRANT: [Entering] I've been looking all over for you. AVON: Well, now you found me. TARRANT: Didn't you hear me calling? AVON: I imagine the whole planet heard you. TARRANT: So where were you? AVON: While you were asleep, I picked up a faint echo on this; it's very basic equipment, little more than primitive radar. TARRANT: And what did this echo tell you? AVON: We have company. Up there ... a large unidentifiable space craft. CALLY: The command module? AVON: Possibly. That's something I needed to think about. But it's not easy to think with Vila snoring. VILA: I don't snore. TARRANT: But you can't tell if it's the command module? AVON: Not without looking. So I suggest you start thinking about this antique heap of nuts and bolts and how you're going to get it into orbit. CALLY: But the ship up there might be hostile. AVON: Quite. That's something else I needed to think about. CALLY: And? AVON: We have -- no armament. Nothing to bargain with. Except... [Holds up sopron rock] TARRANT: I don't believe it. All the trouble, all the danger, and you're still wasting time with _that_. AVON: This happens to be the most sophisticated life form that it has ever been my good fortune to come across. Present company NOT excepted. TARRANT: Life? But it looks like... AVON: A rock. Yes. Well, when you live on the permanent dark side of a planet, nobody cares too much what you look like. CALLY: But you said it wasn't alive. AVON: Orac said that. VILA: And Orac was wrong? AVON: Orac is a computer, like Zen. They react to information, that is all. DAYNA: [Outside] Tarrant! Avon! [Outside] DAYNA: [Trapped in web] Do something! VILA: I think she means you. [Tarrant moves toward Dayna] JARVIK: Tarrant, keep still. Don't provoke it. You, woman. Give it the Kairopan. DAYNA: What Kairopan? I haven't got any. JARVIK: You must have touched some. It can smell it on you. Don't tell me you threw it away. VILA: From my boot, Dayna. You put it in your pocket. [Dayna throws Kairopan to creature, which eats it and crawls away.] JARVIK: Human greed. That's the only problem with Kairos. Everyone who comes tries to pocket a crystal or two, and even if they lose their nerve and try and dump the stuff it's too late. The smell of it clings. If you've touched Kairopan, those brutes'll come after you. They need it once they hatch out. They use the stuff to make silk. For their little cobwebs. DAYNA: It will be back, then. JARVIK: 'fraid so. TARRANT: But Jarvik, I haven't seen you in years. How did you get here? [Sees Jarvik's bracelet] JARVIK: [Grabs Dayna] Sorry, Tarrant. Not the sort of reunion I'd have asked for. AVON: What do you want? JARVIK: The teleport bracelets. That's all. TARRANT: And you'd hide behind a woman to get them? Time changes people. JARVIK: [Releases Dayna] Tarrant? Man to man? You can have the advantage. [Throws knife at Tarrant's feet] TARRANT: [To the others] Wait. Don't move. [They fight, Jarvik wins and holds the knife to Tarrant's throat] JARVIK: [To Tarrant] The bracelet. [To the others] I still want your bracelets. Oh, come on, be fair. They're of no use to you. Is Tarrant? [They all comply except Dayna.] DAYNA: If you want mine, you'll have to take it. JARVIK: [Picking up bracelets] There always has to be one. TARRANT: Don't bother, Dayna. It's not worth the trouble. DAYNA: _I_ think it is. [Walks away] AVON: Tarrant, you've got about two minutes to get that module launched. TARRANT: What are you talking about? AVON: I mean it. Vila, get the roof open. VILA: How? AVON: You're the expert. Cally, get Dayna. [Jarvik & Dayna fight] [Landing module] AVON: Once your friend Jarvik teleports that's the last we'll see of the Liberator. A couple of plasma bolts will be the last we'll see of anything. TARRANT: But there's nothing I can do with this. AVON: You can get it off the ground! [Outside] JARVIK: You fight well. But you're still a woman. [They struggle; she tries to strike him in the groin.] If not quite a lady. [Pins Dayna beneath him. Creature approaches. Into bracelet] This is Jarvik. Teleport! Teleport now! [Jarvik and Dayna teleport. Cally runs into hangar] [Liberator teleport facility] SERVALAN: [To guard] Bring her. [They walk towards flight deck] SERVALAN: Zen, is the Liberator equipped for planetary assault? ZEN: Affirmative. SERVALAN: Good. The zone immediately below us, in a square of fifty surface spacials. ZEN: Clarify your instructions. SERVALAN: I want it destroyed, Zen. Completely. [Landing module; Cally enters] VILA: Where's Dayna? CALLY: There was one of those creatures, they teleported. AVON: That's it, then. Tarrant, you have seconds. TARRANT: Strap yourself in. [Liberator flight deck] ZEN: Surface bolts have been launched. Impact in thirteen seconds. Countdown: twelve... eleven... ten... nine... eight... seven... six... [Landing module. Everyone vibrating during take-off] [Liberator] ZEN: Two... one... zero. Surface area obliterated. SERVALAN: Thank you, Zen. Now, Jarvik, the bracelets. I assume you did bring them all? JARVIK: Of course. SERVALAN: There seems to be a body in one of them. ZEN: Sensors report alien craft, approximate bearing four-nine-zero-three, approaching. [Landing module, in flight] TARRANT: Zen will have picked us up by now. AVON: So? TARRANT: So what do we do before they blow us out of the galaxy? AVON: We attack. TARRANT: Attack? We have nothing to attack with. AVON: Then bluff it. Tell them to surrender. TARRANT: But they'll know ... the sensors ... try and raise the Liberator, Cally. Open beam frequency. [Avon closes panel] CALLY: [Complying] Liberator, are you receiving me? TARRANT: Is that a weapon? AVON: That? Nononono, it's purely a defensive. An analogue of something that evolves on the permanent dark side of a planet. A highly simplified copy, of course. TARRANT: Permanent dark -- are you saying you've built -- AVON: I've built an artificial sopron. Yes, that's what I'm saying. [Liberator flight deck. Landing module on screen] SERVALAN: What is that? ZEN: Detector scan reveal it to be a high technology space cruiser. [Jarvik laughs] Hardened self-healing Herculanium hull and superstructure, advanced Time Distort facility, speed range to Standard by twelve point two zero three. [Jarvik laughs] Computer assessment of weapons reveals the craft to have an assault capacity marginally greater than that of the Liberator. [Jarvik laughs] SERVALAN: GREATER? [Landing module] AVON: Self-defence. Some animals bristle out their fur to frighten their enemies. But that doesn't count for much in the dark. VILA: So what does Sopron do? AVON: Sopron is a mirror. A distorting mirror. It reflects a slightly greater image of whatever it is that happens to be scanning it. Zen saw a capacity charged brain, because that is what Zen is. Orac saw a highly sophisticated computer, because that is what Orac is. Cally thought that she saw her parents, but what she actually saw was herself. TARRANT: And will THAT work? AVON: Oh yes. The question is, what will Servalan see, and will she be fooled by it? [Liberator flight deck] ZEN: We have audiovisual contact with the alien craft. SERVALAN: Put them up, Zen. Tarrant. TARRANT: [On screen] 'fraid so, Servalan. And you know what we want. You have one minute to hand over the Liberator. Failing that, we shall blast her into nether space. JARVIK: Hah! SERVALAN: We have one of your friends aboard. TARRANT: [On screen] Yes. I'm sorry, Dayna. JARVIK: Servalan, you can't take this seriously. SERVALAN: One minute? TARRANT: [On screen] And we're already counting. JARVIK: Servalan, it's a bluff. You can see what it is. SERVALAN: Zen, visual of the alien craft. Explain the conflict. ZEN: The visual image is at variance with seventy-two scanning devices. Possible explanation is a holographic projection designed to disguise the craft's true appearance. JARVIK: Servalan, forget your computers. Please! Believe your eyes. Just for once. SERVALAN: Zen, are there any Federation space craft in teleport range? ZEN: Affirmative. The Kairopan transporter, bearing one one-- SERVALAN: All right. Prepare to evacuate. JARVIK: This is madness! SERVALAN: Captain Shad, kill her. JARVIK: No, wait. There's no need to -- [stands between Shad and Dayna] Argh. SERVALAN: Jarvik! DAYNA: Kill me and who operates the teleport? SERVALAN: Orac. DAYNA: Avon has the key. [Space; V.O.'s from Landing module] VILA: Are you sure you can dock this thing? TARRANT: I hadn't really considered it. VILA: What? TARRANT: I thought we'd be dead by now. [Liberator flight deck] DAYNA: They've all gone. Except Jarvik. And he's not going anywhere anymore. TARRANT: A waste. He was a special sort of man. AVON: Spare us the eulogy. He was a Federation thug. TARRANT: No. No, that isn't what he was. AVON: Zen. Servalan's voice pattern: erase it. ZEN: Confirmed. TARRANT: Get us out of here. I've had enough of this place. |